Page 41 - TURKRptOct21

In H1 2020, LNG imports were 10.3 bcm, standing at 46% of total natural gas imports of 22.5 bcm.
Last year, LNG prices hovered around $4.5-$5 per million British Thermal Unit (mmBtu), compared to around $13-14 per mmBtu this year.
Russia’s pressure to put Nord Stream II pipeline into operation, higher oil prices, increasing carbon prices and expanded demand in Europe due to extremely hot summer conditions, as well as growing consumption with the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, all helped hoist LNG prices.
The Iraqi oil ministry announced on September 29 that Iraq and Turkey are planning to reopen the 970-kilometre-long (603-mile-long) Kirkuk-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline that transports Iraqi crude from Kirkuk to export facilities in Ceyhan on the Turkish Mediterranean coast.
In 2013, the Kurdistan regional government of Iraq completed a pipeline from the Taq Taq field through Khurmala and Dahuk to Pesh Khabur on the Turkey-Iraq border, where it is connected to the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline.
8.1.2 Automotive sector news
Combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in Turkey declined 5% y/y in August, easing from the sharp 45% contraction seen in July.
A government decision implemented in August to increase price thresholds at which a special consumption tax is levied on some vehicles must have boosted the market somewhat. Carmakers lowered prices in the wake of the tax move. However, sector representatives blame vehicle shortages due to the global chip crisis.
In January-August, more than 501,000 passenger car and LCV units were sold on the domestic market, marking a 24% y/y gain.
In January-August, 1,196 electric vehicles (EVs) and 33,000 hybrid cars were sold, accounting for 0.3% and 8.4% of total sales, respectively.
The global shortage of semiconductor chips “continues to cause supply problems, with shortages likely to hinder Turkish carmakers’ exports in coming months.”
“We are presently producing short-term solutions to the supply problems. It is difficult to foresee what might happen in September and beyond,” said Baran Celik, head of the Uludag Automotive Industry Union (OIB).
Turkish automakers at the start of the year were expecting to deliver at least 1.14mn vehicles to foreign markets in 2021. However, as the chip supply problems intensified, they slashed this figure, first to 1.1mn units and later to a little over 1mn, with export revenue expectations standing at $30bn.
“Apparently export revenues will be $1.5bn less than the $30bn target and it is becoming increasingly difficult to make predictions,” Celik said.
The latest data from Turkey’s Automotive Manufacturers’ Association (OSD) showed that Turkey’s auto exports increased by 56% y/y to $2.45bn in August, while the eight-month export figure grew nearly 30% y/y to $19.2bn.
The semiconductor shortage is also hitting sales on the local market, even though demand for cars is strong.
41 TURKEY Country Report October 2021 www.intellinews.com